Spielberg's Movies Ranked

[BatLobster]

If there's an existing Spielberg thread, mods feel free to merge this.

http://www.vulture.com/2012/11/vult...ook_kw&kwp_0=54021&kwp_4=318273&kwp_1=205257#

Okay, so I'll cut right to the chase. Hook is ranked 28, only ahead of Indy 4. I just don't get the intense dislike of that movie. Never have, and I'm not sure I ever will.

Can anybody else relate? I'd love to hear opinions on both sides of the argument. I'm not saying it's anywhere near Spielberg's best film, but I just have never quite been able to get my head around why it gets such a bum rap. It's very hard to be objective about it because it's a movie so ingrained in my childhood, but it's a movie I go back to regularly and I still find that it holds up. A few things I love about it:

- Robin Williams is wonderfully cast, and gives a great performance.
- Dustin Hoffman and Bob Hoskins are both hilarious, and utterly quotable throughout
- Rufio's death.
- One of John Williams' best and most underrated scores
- The food fight
- Peter remembering and first flight

I think this movie is full of magical moments. I guess I'm probably too much of a 90s kid to not have a soft spot for this movie, but it just bugs me that people are always ragging on it. I guess to a certain extent I can understand people making the argument that Spielberg is treading close to self-parody with the very blatant "never lose your inner child" theme, but I mean...it's a Peter Pan story. And frankly it's one of my favorite takes on that story. There is sap, there is cheese, don't get me wrong. But is it really that bad? I really enjoy the way the movie handles the lore, the Lost Boys in particular. It just seems like there's a certain amount of rejection of this movie on concept alone.

Anyway, just curious to see people's thoughts on the matter.

 

[lime]

Yes to everything!

Hook is one of my all time favorite films, and I never got the hate. Even Spielberg himself said that he is disappointed with the movie!?

And yes, of all John Williams scores that got Oscar nominations, how this amazing one was snubbed is beyond me.

 

[Drizzle]

I find that most people who hate Hook didn't grow up with it, and most people who love it were kids when they first saw it. I fall into the latter category.

Second of all, that list is dumb. In what universe is Jurassic Park ranked beneath Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and War of the Worlds?

 

[BatLobster]

Yeah, I agree, the list is definitely dumb in a bunch of spots.

I'm glad I'm not alone in loving Hook. I'd like to think that Spielberg is at least aware that for a certain generation, it's something of a classic. It's just not cool that it gets dumped without a second thought so regularly, but it's really a precious movie for a lot of us. But it's not even like a "guilty pleasure" kind of thing. I genuinely find it to be a wonderful, warm and funny movie to this day.

 

[Schlosser85]

I don't like Hook.

If I had to pick Spielberg's #1 movie, it'd be Schindler's List.

But Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark are pretty damn perfect movies too.

E.T. is one of his classics too. I don't personally care for Close Encounters that much.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

War of the Worlds is better than The Last Crusade?

And Amistad over The Color Purple?

Those are some mediocre films ranked over great ones.

 

[Boom]

Awful list.

Jurassic Park after War of the Worlds? Get the **** outta here.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Also I would'be ranked Artificial Intelligence higher but I understand it's a divisive film

 

[Lord]

There is:

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=475911&highlight=spielberg

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

This list is terrible.

War of the Worlds over Minority Report, Jurassic Park, Duel, Lincoln, and Last Crusade?
ET over Jaws?
AI over Duel and Last Crusade?
The Lost World over Sugarland Express and Tintin?
Temple of Doom over Last Crusade?

 

[The Joker]

Duel is one of his best and most underrated movies. So simple in premise, and yet so intense.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Duel is one of his best and most underrated movies. So simple in premise, and yet so intense.

I love Duel. One of the best chase movies ever. Not bad for a tv movie by a rookie director and with a budget of less than half a million dollars.

 

[The Joker]

I love Duel. One of the best chase movies ever. Not bad for a tv movie by a rookie director and with a budget of less than half a million dollars.

And essentially carried by Dennis Weaver and one big ugly truck.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

And essentially carried by Dennis Weaver and one big ugly truck.

That and some great camera work and cinematography.

 

[Drizzle]

ET over Jaws?

Lots of people rank E.T. as the best Spielberg film. It's not really an unpopular opinion. I don't really agree with it, but I can see why many do.